What is the one thing you can do to make your days feel dramatically better? Starting your day off with a simple yet invigorating morning routine.
A morning routine puts intentionality in your day. It gives your morning form, design and function. Imagine yourself travelling through each step, calm, cool and collected. You know exactly what’s needed of you and when. There are no surprises to leave you scrambling, nor are you likely to forget what’s important.
If it seems intimidating to start a new routine, take heart. There are only five steps you need to worry about to make your day come off without a hitch.
Understand What It’s All About
Embarking on a new routine is hard work, especially as you work to build this routine into something which will be habitual. It’s easy to go back to the old ways you’ve always done things, especially if you feel tired or discouraged.
This is why your first step involves understanding your purpose. Know why you’re striving to have a better morning, and speak these words out loud every morning when you first get up to remind yourself of them. Are you looking for higher productivity? A calmer day? More confidence? You’ll need to figure it out if you don’t know before beginning.
Implement Your Routine in Baby Steps
You can’t change around your entire sleep schedule or make profound changes about your mornings all at once without burning out quickly. This is why it’s important to work out a plan in advance where you know what changes you are making and when. For example, if you normally get up at 9:00am but want to get up at 7:00, you’ll want to make small changes that work toward your goal. So for the first week, you might get up at 8:45 and the week after 8:30, etc.
Commit to Consistency
You’re not going to succeed in building new habits if you don’t do the same thing repeatedly. Realize you can’t do this in half measures. Commit to doing this routine every single day.
Work Out an Evening Routine
Your morning will go better if you use it with an evening routine that sets up a regular bedtime. You can also use evenings to do prep work for the next day, such as laying out your clothes.
Create Your Routine
The key to making your routine is to address all of your needs. So some things you might do for physical health (exercise, eat right) while others benefit you spiritually (meditate, pray), mentally (learn, self-talk), or emotionally (journal, affirmations). The goal is to bring yourself into harmonious balance every day.
Together these five steps will help you create the perfect morning routine. Now you’re ready to start your day out right!
